This is how goes … A plan for 200 homes gets rejected by the council, but the developers appeal. The appeal process reveal that the council hadn’t followed the National Planning Policy Framework, a policy that seems to give developers a free pass to build on Green Belt land—even though the community was assured that only old, disused sites would be developed. The appeal overturns the council’s decision, sticking them with the appeal costs. WRONG on so many levels.

Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be a planning councillor? The pressure they’re under from the appeal process doesn’t always lead to the best decisions for the community. In fact, we recently spoke with a local planner who confirmed that the potential cost of an appeal is a major factor in their decisions. They might know what’s right for the land, but they’re forced to consider the financial risk to the council if their decision gets overturned.

This shift in focus is a dangerous change from what planning was originally meant to be about. Instead of making choices based on the needs of the area, councillors are now influenced by the threat of expensive appeals. This puts the interests of the government and developers ahead of the local community.

The government has completely broken the planning process, which was supposed to be guided by local opinions. This has thrown open the gates for developers to build on perfectly good Green Belt land. The Green Belt isn’t meant to have “missions” for development; it has clear purposes for preservation. CPRE research shows there’s space for at least 1.2 million homes on previously developed land and this is just the tip of the iceberg: https://www.cprelondon.org.uk/news/10-housing-crisis-myths/

Our mission continues.